Schumer wants crude oil carried in more secure tank cars

Calling the DOT-111 railroad tank car design tragically flawed, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer on Monday called on federal regulators to order freight railroads to phase out use of the cars for carrying crude oil and other hazardous materials. He suggested the rail cars could be used to carry such nonhazardous cargoes as canola oil and corn oil, or that they be retrofitted to meet tougher safety standards.

His comments followed the deadly derailment of a 72-car tanker train on July 6 in Quebec that killed 47 people and destroyed the center of Lac-Megantic, a lakeside community a few miles from the Maine border. Schumer said about 100 cars carrying crude arrive at the Port of Albany each day. The port has become a major transshipment point for crude heading from North Dakota’s Bakken fields to refineries up and down the East Coast.

Schumer said 69 out of every 100 tank cars in use today are of the DOT-111 design.

The National Transportation Safety Board cited the car’s design as a major factor in the 2009 Cherry Valley, Ill. freight rail derailment and release of hazardous materials, and called for a redesign or replacement of the DOT-111 cars.

“If the rail companies know they can’t use these, that’ll help with their planning,” Schumer said.

Propane already is carried in pressurized tank cars that have thicker shells and heads and aren’t as prone to rupture in an accident.

Schumer wants crude oil and ethanol to be carried in the pressurized, more rugged cars as well.

Schumer said the boom in domestic oil production has fueled increased economic activity at the Port of Albany and he didn’t want that to stop.

But, he said, “what happened in Quebec is a shot across the bow… We just want to make things as safe as possible.